Sydney Sweeney's New Lingerie Brand Syrn Sparks Rivalry with Kim Kardashian's SKIMS
Sydney Sweeney hung bras from the Hollywood Sign. That was the launch strategy. Actual bras, draped across the letters on 28 January 2026, promoting a lingerie brand nobody had heard of a fortnight earlier.It worked, obviously.Syrn, as the brand is called, sold out its first collection within days. The Instagram reveal pulled the kind of engagement most celebrity side projects never manage, and the stunt in Los Angeles got precisely the reaction Sweeney must have been counting on: everyone talked about it. Fashion editors, fans, gossip accounts. And, reportedly, Kim Kardashian.Sources cited by Mandatory claim Kardashian is 'painfully aware' of Sweeney's move into lingerie. SKIMS — Kardashian's shapewear and intimates empire, valued at roughly £4bn — has owned this space for years. It brought in about £615m in revenue in 2023 alone. The idea that a 27-year-old actress with a first-time fashion line could threaten any of that sounds faintly absurd on paper; the fact that people close to Kardashian are briefing journalists about it suggests it does not feel absurd to her.
What Syrn Actually IsFour personas. That is the pitch. Sweeney built the range around characters rather than body types: Seductress, Romantic, Playful, Comfy. Each one gets its own aesthetic, its own campaign imagery, its own corner of the website. Sizes run 30B to 42DDD. The lace pieces sit alongside everyday basics, which is more or less the same spread SKIMS offers, though SKIMS would frame it differently and probably has a trademark lawyer on standby to make sure everyone knows it.The money behind Syrn is what caught people off guard. Coatue Management led the funding — a venture capital firm with backers including Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell. That is serious money for a debut celebrity brand. Most actors who launch fashion lines fund them with personal cash or a mid-tier licensing deal. Sweeney walked in with Silicon Valley venture capital, which tells you either that the pitch was exceptional or that Coatue sees the lingerie market as ripe for disruption, or both. Probably both.First-year revenue estimates sit at £8m to £16m. A fraction of SKIMS. But then SKIMS did not start at £4bn either; it launched in 2019 and spent five years getting there, which is fast by any measure but still five years. Sweeney is at week six.
The Instagram SituationHere is where the story gets petty, and rather fun.Shortly after Syrn launched, Kardashian posted new SKIMS imagery featuring lace pieces. Could be coincidence. Product calendars are planned months ahead. But fans noticed — they always notice — and the comments sections did what comments sections do. 'Kim said not today Sydney Sweeney!' was one of the milder ones.Whether Kardashian intended the timing as a message or whether it was genuinely scheduled weeks in advance is anyone's guess. The effect was the same: two lingerie brands, two famous women, and an internet audience that wanted a rivalry regardless of whether one actually existed. Some fans egged it on. Others were more relaxed about it, pointing out that competition might be healthy — more brands, more choice, lower prices eventually. Fair enough.But the overlap is real. Both target women in their twenties and thirties. Both lean on social media marketing. Both sell lace alongside comfort basics. SKIMS has the infrastructure — loungewear, swimwear, menswear, global distribution, collaborations with everyone from Dolce & Gabbana to the NBA. Syrn has the novelty, and a founder whose face was already on billboards before she started selling underwear.Industry sources told Mandatory that Sweeney's plans extend beyond lingerie. Cosmetics and skincare are reportedly on the roadmap, which puts Syrn on a collision course not just with SKIMS but with the broader Kardashian business ecosystem. Whether Sweeney gets there depends on money, timing, and whether the initial buzz converts into repeat customers — three things that are extremely difficult to predict in celebrity fashion and that no amount of venture capital guarantees.The MathsSKIMS: £615m revenue in 2023. £4bn valuation. Projected to hit £1.4bn in annual sales within the next couple of years. Global presence. Multiple product categories. Six years of brand-building.Syrn: sold-out debut. Estimated £8m–£16m first year. One product category. Six weeks old. Backed by a venture fund that has the patience and the capital to play a long game, but still — six weeks.Put those numbers next to each other and the 'rivalry' looks less like a contest and more like a start-up nipping at an empire's ankles. Kardashian has won this fight before it started, at least financially. The question is whether she stays comfortable, because Sweeney is building something with a different kind of energy and a different audience, and the bra-on-the-Hollywood-Sign approach suggests she is not planning to be subtle about any of it.No statement has been issued by either camp. SKIMS has not commented publicly on Syrn. Sweeney, for her part, has been doing press rounds for the brand without mentioning Kardashian by name, which is probably wise and possibly deliberate. The bras have come down from the sign. The first collection is restocking. The next few months will tell us whether Syrn is a genuine challenger or a very well-funded flash in the pan.
